Aggravation
by adromir
Summary: Steve is caught by surprise at the home of a witness.


_TREPIDATION_

**SUMMARY: Steve is caught by surprise at the home of a witness. **

**A/N: Nope. Not Supernatural fic still, but I promise to finish Cockrotoa very very soon. Anyway, this LOD story takes place after Season 5. Enjoy.**

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DS Steve Arnott was turning his service vehicle into the private lane of a small bungalow when his mobile phone rang. He waited until he had pulled up in front of the house before answering it. The call was from his partner, DI Kate Fleming.

"Kate?"

"Higgins has fled," Kate said, sounding a little breathless and a tad annoyed. She was talking about DCI Richard Higgins who was under investigation by the AC-12 due to a report made about his alleged connection to a counterfeit ring. "Someone might have tipped him off, told him we're coming. He's not at his home or at his favorite bar. And his phone is not on, so no luck tracing his current whereabouts. How about you?"

"I just arrived at David Marshall's house," Steve replied as he got out of his car. He noticed a black Volvo parked in the driveway. "I think he's home because his car is here. Wonder why he doesn't answer any of my calls though."

"Just go carefully, Steve," she cautioned him. "Tell Marshall that he needs to be put under police protection immediately. Higgins might already be onto him for talking to us. I'll be right there with the uniforms, ETA fifteen minutes."

"Ma'am," Steve responded and rang off. He quickly walked to the front door and pressed the doorbell. After standing there for about half a minute without getting any response, he pressed it again.

"David! It's Steve Arnott. Are you in?"

Growing impatient, he then started banging at the door, causing it to crack open a few inches. He went still, surprised to find the door unlocked. Cautiously, he pushed the door inward. The interior was as silent as a tomb.

"David?" he called out, "It's me, Steve. Are you here?"

On full alert now, he stepped into the house and moved quietly down the hallway, checking each room that he passed. The living room was empty, as was the small study next to it. Steve decided to inspect the kitchen first before going up to the bedrooms. And that was where he found the body.

DC David Marshall—an officer attached to South Ferry Police Station who had fed the info about the counterfeit ring to AC-12—was lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. There was a bullet hole in the back of his head.

Dismayed, Steve had to turn away from the grisly scene. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He was getting tired of stumbling over dead bodies. Still shaken, he took out his mobile phone and speed dialed Kate's number.

"Steve, what's the status?" was her immediate response.

He took a moment to reply, "Marshall is dead."

Kate was silent for several seconds before she exploded, "_What_?! What happened?"

Steve sighed. "Marshall didn't answer the door. In fact, the door is unlocked so I walked in. I just found him in the kitchen. He had been shot in the head."

"Jesus Christ…" Kate muttered. Afterwards, she asked, "Any sign of anyone else in that house?"

"No, I saw no one. Marshall was alone," Steve replied. They both knew that David Marshall was still single and living by himself in the bungalow of his deceased parents.

Kneeling next to the body, Steve placed his fingertips against the man's neck to confirm that there was no pulse. That was when he made another shocking discovery.

"What the hell?"

Kate obviously heard that. "Steve? What's wrong?"

"His body, it's still warm." To make sure, Steve placed the back of his hand against Marshall's cheek. "His body is not room temperature yet. He was killed just minutes ago."

Through the phone, he could hear Kate's sharp intake of breath. "Steve…The killer might be still inside the house."

He instantly looked up, swiveling his head around as he checked his surroundings. He was alone except for the dead body. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Do not take any chances, mate. Get outta there!"

"Kate, I haven't checked the upstairs bedrooms."

Already on his feet, Steve moved stealthily back towards where he came from. He stopped at the stairs, looking up. On the phone, he could hear Kate shouting at him, "You are not wearing a vest, you are unarmed, and you're alone. Get outta there now!"

Steve made a face at that, but he knew he had to yield to his superior's orders. "Ma'am."

"Get into your car, Steve. And keep this line open," Kate said, "I will be there with backup in five minutes."

"Alright, I'm walking out the door," he told her, looking to his left and right as he strode towards his car. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, but he couldn't help feeling as if a bullet was about to hit him in the back at any second.

He quickly got into his service vehicle and shut the door. "Kate, I'm in my car, safe and sound."

"Good, stay there until we arrive."

"Do you think it's Higgins who killed Marshall?"

"We're going to find that out soon enough, aren't we? We know Higgins is already way in over his head, and he's cornered. Maybe he is not thinking straight."

"Yeah, and his sudden disappearance just add to the—Shit!"

Steve ducked when Richard Higgins unexpectedly appeared out of nowhere to stand in front of the car with a gun pointed straight at him. Higgins fired twice, shattering the windshield.

Steve cried out in pain when he got hit by flying glass. Ducking himself lower, he accidentally dropped the phone. He could still hear Kate screaming his name amidst the racket.

Higgins was now at the driver's side of the door, aiming his gun through the window. Cursing, Steve hastily scrambled over the passenger seat and pushed the door open. He was stumbling out onto the ground when Higgins fired again and again, shattering more glass all over him.

"Fuck!"

Still cursing, Steve pressed his head close against the gravel of the driveway as he stared at Higgins' boots through the gap under the car. He kept track of Higgins' progress, who was now moving towards the front hood. Steve knew, the moment the gunman rounded the front of the car, he would be sitting duck. He needed to act fast.

Not wasting time thinking about it, Steve leapt to his feet. Higgins was caught by surprise when the AC-12 officer suddenly flew into him, slamming hard against his chest. The gun fired aimlessly.

Steve, who had managed to duck under the arm holding the gun, smashed the meaty palm of his hand up against Higgins' nose. Something cracked, causing Higgins to howl in agony. As blood burst all over Higgins' face, Steve grabbed the other man's wrist and gave it a vicious twist. Higgins lost hold of his firearm and it dropped to the ground. Steve instantly kicked the gun away, out of reach.

"You bastard!" Higgins yelled in outrage. He raised his free elbow to hit Steve in the face, but the AC-12 officer was faster. Steve ducked, grabbed the man's other wrist and jerked it up against the man's back. Kicking the back of Higgins' knees, Steve shoved him until he lay face down on the ground. Bracing a knee against the other man's spine, Steve reached for the handcuffs clipped to his belt.

"DCI Richard Higgins, you are under arrest for the suspicion of murder, attempted murder, and grievous bodily harm onto a police officer going about his lawful duty," Steve cited as he quickly snapped the handcuffs on Higgins' wrists.

"Fuck you!" Higgins screamed.

"Yeah, fuck you very much too," Steve retorted. He raised his head when he heard sirens approaching fast. Seconds later, three patrol cars appeared on scene followed by a silver Audi—Kate's service vehicle.

The uniformed officers rushed over to assist him with Higgins. As soon as Higgins was secured, Steve stepped back and turned to Kate who was staring wide eyed at him.

"Are you alright?"

Steve shrugged, brushing dirt off his hands. "I'm still alive, so yes, I'm fine."

"Damn it, Steve. When I heard those gunshots, I thought…" Kate quickly pulled herself together. She then gestured at his face. "You're bleeding."

Steve grimaced as he touched the bloodied cuts on his cheek and temple. "It's the flying glass. I didn't duck fast enough."

He then pointed at Higgins' gun lying on the ground about ten feet away. "Somebody needs to secure that too."

Kate instructed a uniform officer to stand guard over the handgun—a Glock 17 service pistol—until the forensics team arrived to process the scene.

"Marshall's body is in the kitchen. Come on, I'll show you," Steve said, turning to lead the way back towards the house. But Kate's restraining hand on his arm caused him to halt. He turned to her, puzzled.

"What?"

Kate was staring hard at him. She looked deeply troubled. "Steve, you're bleeding."

He rolled his eyes. "I know. The flying glass…"

"The flying glass did _that_?" She pointed at his torso. He looked down, and noticed that his entire right side was drenched in blood. A ragged bullet hole was discernible against the dark fabric of the waistcoat he was wearing.

Now that the adrenaline rush had faded, he began to feel the pain. It was deep and intense, burning hot up and down his entire frame. Apparently, one of the bullets had managed to hit him.

Steve looked up at his partner and muttered, "Shit. I think I've been shot..."

At that, his knees buckled. Crying out in alarm, Kate grabbed him and carefully guided him down until he was sitting on the ground with his back braced against her shoulder. He barely heard it when Kate shouted at the uniform officers to call for the EMTs.

And then he heard nothing more.

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When Steve regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a hospital bed. He was alone, except for the IV stand and the blood bag and the annoying machine that was monitoring his vitals. He groaned out loud.

_Come on. Not again_…

Annoyed with his bad luck, he vowed then and there not to spend another night in the bloody hospital. Gingerly, he raised himself up, hissing with pain when the movements aggravated his gunshot wound.

He still felt a bit groggy from the sedative they had given him during the surgery, but his motor skills were fully intact and his mind was sound. He really needed to leave the room before anyone appeared and stopped him.

Swiping the blankets off him, he slowly pulled his legs to the side before lowering his bare feet onto the cold floor. He needed to take a full minute to catch his breath, and so he sat there panting from exertion. Even that small feat had quickly drained his energy, he noted with disgust.

Fumbling with all sorts of wires plastered to his chest under the hospital gown, he quickly scanned the room.

_Now where the hell did they put my clothes?_

Kate chose that moment to walk in, holding a tall cup of hot coffee. Her eyes bugged wide when she saw him. "Steve! What the…Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," was his short reply. He was having problems detaching the IV tube.

"Hey, stop that!" Kate rushed over to slap at his hand.

He glared back. "I'm going home."

"You're not going anywhere, mate." Putting her coffee cup onto a nearby table, she then gathered the bedcovers. "Get back in."

"Kate—"

"Get in. _Now_. That is not a request."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Jesus. You're worse than my mother."

"Well, she's not here to nag at you but I can always call her."

Grumbling under his breath, Steve pulled back his legs and lay himself down on the bed, hissing and grimacing the entire way. Kate shook her head as she tucked him in.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Right, so what else is new?" he sullenly replied.

"What's gotten into you?"

"What?"

"You got shot, for God sake! You're lucky the bullet didn't hit any internal organs. It just caused you to bleed like a stuck pig."

"Exactly. I'm fine. So can I go home now?"

"Absolutely not!" she shot back. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she took a deep breath to compose herself. "Alright, Steve. What's the rush? Why are you so eager to leave the hospital when you're obviously still in pain?"

"Because I'm getting tired of waking up in a hospital," he ruefully admitted. "Besides, I have a date. What time is it, anyway?"

"A quarter past seven in the evening," Kate said, glancing at her watch. "Wait, you have a date?"

"Yeah, or I hope I _still_ have a date. But now it looks like I have to cancel it."

Kate was intrigued. "You have a date with Sam?"

She was talking about DS Sam Railston, Steve's former girlfriend.

Steve scowled. "No, not Sam. She's visiting her parents in Wales. And we've broken up, remember?"

"Oh, right." Smirking, Kate wanted to know more. "Who is it then? Anyone I know?"

"Yeah, you know her," he reluctantly said. "It's Nicky."

Kate blinked, and then broke into grins. "Nicky Rogerson? From the Major Violent Crime Unit? You two are back together?"

He shrugged. "Now that I have to cancel our date, we're never gonna find out, are we?"

"Not so fast, hot shot," said a new voice, startling both Kate and Steve.

DS Nicola "Jolly" Rogerson was standing in the doorway. She looked beautiful in a red cocktail dress with matching high heels, her long black hair let loose down her shoulders.

Steve's mouth dropped open. "Wow. Nicky. You look…um…very nice."

His comment sounded so pathetic Kate felt like giving herself a face palm. "What my idiot partner is trying to say, Nicky, is that you look incredibly stunning. Please excuse him. His upstairs brain is barely functioning right now."

"Hey!" he protested.

Chuckling, Nicky walked closer to the bed. "I thought you stood me up. I waited at our reserved table in the restaurant for nearly half an hour before I decided to call your number. When I only got your voice mail, I called your office and they told me that you've been shot. So I came straight over."

Steve reached across to squeeze her hand. "Sorry about our ruined date. Rain check?"

"Maybe. That depends."

"On what?"

"On how fast you're gonna recover."

"Oh, he's going to recover real fast," Kate said with a cheeky grin. "Alright, kids. I feel like a third wheel already. So I gotta run. Nicky, make sure he stays in that bed. And Steve, no strenuous sexual activities for the time being or you'll bust your stitches."

"Kate!"

Laughing, Kate grabbed her coffee before rushing out the door.

Shaking his head, Steve turned to Nicky with a tired smile. "Truly, I'm real sorry about all this."

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault you got shot."

"This still sucks though. I've never been shot before."

"You're doing pretty well for a first timer."

He laughed before he instantly winced, grabbing his wounded side with a low groan. "Jesus. Even laughing hurts."

"Then Kate was right. You are not fit for any strenuous sexual activities."

He made a face. "I hate it when she's right."

Stroking his head, Nicky leaned closer until their lips met. She then pulled back and planted a kiss on his temple. "Sleep, Steve. I'll be right here."

His eyes already closed, Steve mumbled drowsily, "You're the best looking nurse I've ever had..."

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As she waited for the elevator, Kate sighed in relief.

_Steve is fine_, she repeatedly told herself. _He's going to pull through_.

She could never forget the sound of the gunshots and the sight of him covered in blood. She had thought she was about to lose him. _Again_. But after seeing him grinning like a besotted fool at the sight of Nicky Rogerson, she knew that Steve was a lot tougher than he looked.

Still, Kate vowed to always protect him with her very life.

That was what partners do.

**THE END**

**Stay tuned for more LOD stories. Later, guys.**

"**Hargreaves calls you Jolly." – DS Steve Arnott to DS Nicola Rogerson.**


End file.
